Leak!! Area behind passenger flooded with water

[ORstang]

Mine is convertible, and I starting have water issues after having my door latch recall fixed. One day I found my passenger side had about 1 in of freaking WATER in the back, and I could hear water splashing somewhere on my right side. I seriously doubt Sterling Ford in Houston is dishonest as f@@k.

Sent my car there for diagnose after my passenger side side was almost dried and was asked $778 for fixing the issue. They told me leaves and dirt got clogged around the water outlet under the small side window. I told them to hold there and wait for me. Came with my dad who's a car mechanic. Here's the crazy part: the diagnose is $188, and clean it with a vacuum cleaner is about $600 more. It's just as ridiculous as it sounds. Both my driver and passenger side were flooded mysteriously. I did tell them to check the driver side as well, and they told me there's nothing wrong. So how the hell I got water??? Their staffs showed me how much water they got out of my car, half of their vacuum tank, and I knew something isn't right.

Went home and took off seats, covers, and small side windows. Got all leaves and dirt out. Spend 3 days to dry both carpets, then put everything back on. So far so good, no water and dry floor. I have to say the design is a bit lousy. Maybe drive convertible is not a good idea, and water leak is a very common problem. One thing we noticed was my passenger door has some gap between bottom seal. Put paper under both doors, close them then pull the paper. The driver side has some friction, and the passenger side has no resistance at all.

If you live in Houston, DO NOT visit Sterling McCall Ford in Houston. I also found one and the only screw for side window missing. Called Sterling Ford, no response.

Here is my water leak I just located. The leak on mine is in the area by the door hinges. Ford put stickers to cover holes....painted over them....wala....sticker comes off.....3/4 inch hole.....flooded floor behind passengers seat. I plugged it with a tapered rubber plug....flushed it up.....swipe of clear silicone.....hillbilly fix. Trying to get Ford to weld up the holes and repaint....dreaming

Good that Ford was able to find it. As long as I can remember, Ford drain design has been horrible. The SN95 verts have the water running from the cowl through the frame rails (under the sill trim) and exiting through little slits out the back in front of the rear wheels. The other problem I have found with Fords in general is they are real stingy with the application of seam sealer and gaps = leaks. My advice is use the service manual or Google to find all of the drain points and clean them out once in a while using a piece of stiff wire like a coat hanger. It doesn't take but a couple of leaves and debris to cause a clog and then a flood inside the car. Glad you have it fixed!!

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[ORstang]

Here is my water leak I just located. The leak on mine is in the area by the door hinges. Ford put stickers to cover holes....painted over them....wala....sticker comes off.....3/4 inch hole.....flooded floor behind passengers seat. I plugged it with a tapered rubber plug....flushed it up.....swipe of clear silicone.....hillbilly fix. Trying to get Ford to weld up the holes and repaint....dreaming

That's my recent find

 

[GT Pony]

What's with Ford and their Mickey Mouse frickin' hole stickers by the door hinges?! Ford, spend 10 cents more and use proper rubber hole plugs. This isn't the first time this has been the reported cause of a massive water leak into the interior.

 

[ORstang]

What's with Ford and their Mickey Mouse frickin' hole stickers by the door hinges?! Ford, spend 10 cents more and use proper rubber hole plugs. This isn't the first time this has been the reported cause of a massive water leak into the interior.

Dealership wanted to take off the door to plug it.......and charge me.....warranty is expired. Home depot has rubber cork style plugs for 1.25. Shoved it in to almost flush and smeared some silicone. Won't leak but sure is a hillbilly fix. Now it's a eye sore cuz I know its there and constantly checking both sides for a open hole. Any suggestions on my next vehicle? Time to switch I think.

 

[Notes]

Here is my water leak I just located. The leak on mine is in the area by the door hinges. Ford put stickers to cover holes....painted over them....wala....sticker comes off.....3/4 inch hole.....flooded floor behind passengers seat. I plugged it with a tapered rubber plug....flushed it up.....swipe of clear silicone.....hillbilly fix. Trying to get Ford to weld up the holes and repaint....dreaming

And that's exactly what Ive been saying for the past 2 years or so. Ford won't cover this under warranty or extended warranty, the most I got out of it is a 50/50 split with Ford. For 3 months I drove around with a stripped interior and without carpet, whenever I drove down from a bridge or had to make a quick stop the water pored out of the hood lever.

The first downside of looking for the leak for almost 3 months was that they had to remove my carpet to let it dry, I had to choose between cutting the carpet in half below the center console or remove the complete dash to remove it without cutting, so I chose the first and i helped along with the tech to put It back nicely.

Second, this hole made the full a-pillar to flood with water but also the doors and some parts in the middle that draws air for the AC or radiator. So since the leak whenever I use my ac, or heater on a rainy day or during the winter it still smells of fungus and standing water, even after several cleaning / anti fungus sprays in the air-vents etc.

Third, by removing the door 2 times en the front-seats 2 times, whenever the outside temp is over 22 C (71.6F) my airbag warning light pops up, for 2 years now we have been looking to find the culprit without luck so far.

All of this for a stupid sticker that shouldn't have been there in the first place, a plug like the drain plug bellow your seat would have been much better and safer!

Anyway, good luck man!!!
Cheers

 

[WT100]

My recommendation is to remove the plastic side skirts, widen the drain hole and put another hole in the side skirt itself. To allow water and debris a true flow through. Crazy how a fifty dollar job will cost for thousands. Many more folks probably have the issue and font know because they don’t drive the car in the rain, it’s a Vert, garage it, and who really sits in the back seat. Ford offered me a total of 3,500 dollars to help defray costs. I turned them down. I’m going with Gieco. Paying for everything except the 500 dollar deductible. Of course my Ins is going to go up to. Ford...you used to be my favorite brand..

Thanks for this! Gunna take a run at my fix this weekend. Amazing how hard it is to track this information down!

 

[WT100]

My recommendation is to remove the plastic side skirts, widen the drain hole and put another hole in the side skirt itself. To allow water and debris a true flow through. Crazy how a fifty dollar job will cost for thousands. Many more folks probably have the issue and font know because they don’t drive the car in the rain, it’s a Vert, garage it, and who really sits in the back seat. Ford offered me a total of 3,500 dollars to help defray costs. I turned them down. I’m going with Gieco. Paying for everything except the 500 dollar deductible. Of course my Ins is going to go up to. Ford...you used to be my favorite brand..

. Do you happen to have a pic of where you drilled the hole in the side skirt? I'm wondering if I can drill that one first and avoid taking the side skip off.

 

[ximportdriver]

What is the part number for the stickers to re-plug those holes behind the doors?

 

[GT Pony]

What is the part number for the stickers to re-plug those holes behind the doors?

I'd be looking for some rubber plugs that fit those holes instead of using those Mickey Mouse stickers Ford uses.

 

[ximportdriver]

I'd be looking for some rubber plugs that fit those holes instead of using those Mickey Mouse stickers Ford uses.

That would be nice if I had the know-how. I’m not a good handyman. Plus, I spent three hours yesterday looking for a solution. I couldn’t even find the part on the Ford website. I took it to dealer today and they had no idea what I was talking about. What a headache!

 

[Elp_jc]

Damn, how freaking stupid is that. Just looked at my car, and the driver's side 'sticker' is fine... but the passenger one is bent at the top. Probably not allowing water into the hole yet, but maybe a couple of millimeters away. Geez. Can't open the door fully against the wall, but will scrutinize the damn thing next time I use the car, and feel if it's hard, or what. If hard, might just add silicone on top of the bend, so water never gets in there. I'm amazed more and more how freaking cheap Ford can get. I'm pretty sure this car will be my last Ford, at least for a while.

Going back to the issue, if somebody found suitable rubber plugs, could you please post a link to them, so we can solve the damn potential problem (it's only a matter of time), once and for all? And are all 3 holes the same size? I only saw the middle one (before knowing there were 3), but I'm sure the other 2 are also there. If plugs are smaller than the stickers, they won't cover the lack of paint, but I don't care; just don't want water inside the car. Thank you.

 

[GT Pony]

Damn, how freaking stupid is that. Just looked at my car, and the driver's side 'sticker' is fine... but the passenger one is bent at the top.

See my post linked below ... there are 3 holes inside the front door area on the body side. The middle hole on my 2015 seems to have a rubber plug from the factory, and a sticker on the bottom hole. Not sure about the top hole. Seems like some S550s have stickers on all 3 holes. Might want to take a flashlight and inspect all 3 holes. The middle hole looks larger than the top and bottom hole.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...flooded-with-water.101947/page-2#post-2376417

 

[Cobra Jet]

There are no “part numbers” for the asinine stickers that Ford is using during the assembly process. What’s even funnier is folks in the GT350 forum are posting images of same painted over stickers being used over poor assembly spot welds on the underside of their hoods...

If one were to look at that door location on their own car, the sticker is applied BEFORE the car goes through the paint process (obvious by the above pics of the blue car posted). The sticker is most likely a CLEAR GENERIC sticker being used, placed over the holes and then gets painted during the body spray process.

You won’t be able to find, buy or get painted stickers from a Ford Dealer Parts Dept to replace any that have fallen off.

Do as others have said - go to a hardware or automotive store, look for round black rubber plugs and place the plug into the hole. THAT is the absolute BEST fix, as the plug will stop any water, road debris or moisture from coming into the interior and if the proper size, the plug won‘t fall out.

If you must ”sticker it” - do yourself a favor and just get Gorilla Duct Tape, cut a slice and place it over the hole. That’s the only tape that will work, won’t fall of and will keep the hole sealed.

 

[ximportdriver]

There are no “part numbers” for the asinine stickers that Ford is using during the assembly process. What’s even funnier is folks in the GT350 forum are posting images of same painted over stickers being used over poor assembly spot welds on the underside of their hoods...

If one were to look at that door location on their own car, the sticker is applied BEFORE the car goes through the paint process (obvious by the above pics of the blue car posted). The sticker is most likely a CLEAR GENERIC sticker being used, placed over the holes and then gets painted during the body spray process.

You won’t be able to find, buy or get painted stickers from a Ford Dealer Parts Dept to replace any that have fallen off.

Do as others have said - go to a hardware or automotive store, look for round black rubber plugs and place the plug into the hole. THAT is the absolute BEST fix, as the plug will stop any water, road debris or moisture from coming into the interior and if the proper size, the plug won‘t fall out.

If you must ”sticker it” - do yourself a favor and just get Gorilla Duct Tape, cut a slice and place it over the hole. That’s the only tape that will work, won’t fall of and will keep the hole sealed.

Nuts!

When are we forming and joining a class action lawsuit?

 

[Elp_jc]

go to a hardware or automotive store, look for round black rubber plugs and place the plug into the hole.

Easier said than done. Ha ha. To seal properly, it'd have to be pretty much the perfect size... and also expand at the back, so it's always tight against the body. It'd have to be something like the rubber pads for the clutch and brake switches.

Hopefully somebody here already found the perfect solution and can post it for the rest of us .

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